Rumors are swirling about possible replacements, mainly GOP politicians who could win Senate confirmation. Among the names: former Newport Beach congressman Chris Cox, now head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gonzales may have tarnished the luster of a Harvard law degree, but Cox not only has a Harvard law degree and was on the law review, but also has a Harvard MBA. Sen. Charles Schumer, the New Yorker leading the charge against Gonzales — and the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee — went easy on Cox’s nomination to the SEC in 2005. He won unanimous Senate confirmation.

Both California’s Democratic Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, shot down Cox as a possible nomination for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001. But AG job might be viewed differently, especially if it would help get rid of Gonzales. Aside from the usual Washington blood sport of it, Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican and former U.S. attorney, expressed a genuine widespread concern that the Gonzales flap has tainted the independence of federal prosecutors.

Other names in the rumor mill include former Ohio Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, who went down in the Democratic Senate sweep in November but is well liked on both sides of the aisle. Others were dubious that DeWine, also a former governor, would want the job.

Gonzales’ lone defender on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, also comes up in the roster, though it would be hard to imagine anyone giving up a Senator-for-Life job for an embattled one and a half years in the sunset of the Bush administration. Hatch had been hankering for the Supreme Court, but at 73 was considered too old.

Another name popping up is George Terwilliger,a deputy attorney general and acting attorney general in Bush 41’s administration, now in private practice.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino repeated this morning that President Bush maintains full confidence in Gonzales, and thinks he did a swell job answering questions at the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday. Bush may be the only one who thinks so. Rep. Adam Putnam, a rising GOP House star chairing the GOP conference, joined the ranks of Republicans calling for Gonzales to step down.

Some Republicans are thinking the story will die down and really hasn’t generated enough steam to force the attorney general to go. But there are lots of indications that White House thinking could shift: among them, reports from CNN’s White House correspondent Thursday from insiders saying watching Gonzales testify was like watching baby seals get clubbed.